Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson have promised Liverpool and Manchester
United will do everything in their power to mend the reputation of English
football’s most high-profile fixture.

The Liverpool manager says neither club could have done more to ensure their FA Cup fourth-round tie is remembered solely for its football.

With the aftermath of the Luis Suárez and Patrice Evra racism row still reverberating from when Manchester United last visited Anfield in October, there has been a concerted effort not to inflame tensions.

Dalglish will use Saturday’s programme notes to call on supporters to act as “ambassadors” for the club.

“Clearly passions run high when the clubs play each other,” said Dalglish. “But as far was we’re concerned this is a football match and not about any other issue. We have to move on. All our fans are ambassadors for this club and we don’t need any sideshows or distractions.”

Ferguson, meanwhile, has told United players and supporters to relish the rivalry with Liverpool but “behave properly”

Ferguson said: “It is something you want to look forward to and that is what I intend to do and I think the players should follow that.

“I think the atmosphere is terrific. You can work all your life to get to that point where you’re challenged, and your team is challenged.

“As Steve Gerrard said yesterday, it is the responsibility of the players to behave properly and that’s what I expect my players to do and also the fans. Both sets of fans have to make sure we are talking about the game and nothing else. It can be that way because there are a lot of good players on the pitch.”

Dalglish even claimed that despite some animosity on the surface, there is a growing respect between the two sets of fans.

He said: “We will set an example. The supporters will. We have got our house in order and I’m sure along the East Lancashire Road they will be saying exactly the same thing.

“If something goes off, then it goes off. If it’s bad news, then there is not much anyone else could have done about it. I don’t think either of the two football clubs can be held responsible if it doesn’t go as well as everybody hopes it will do.

"On the previous evidence, the two sets of fans are becoming more respectful for each other.

“They won’t be sending Christmas cards to each other, but they are becoming more respectful. Both sets of fans respect the other club for what they have done. They have both been hugely successful.

“We certainly don’t want the players to lose sight — and I don’t think they will — of the competitiveness in the game. They have to stand up for themselves.”

Wayne Rooney was due to train yesterday for the first time this week but the striker’s ankle injury means he may not be risked from the start.

Ferguson chose not to answer questions about how Evra might feel about his personal return to Anfield, where Suárez is expected to watch from the directors’ box.

The Scot said the fixture remains the finest English football can offer.

“In terms of the public, as a neutral you would still see this as the biggest game [of the season], but you have to recognise City has become even more than it ever was in terms of intensity and the competition.

“There might come a time when you can’t separate the two because of the progress City have made, you can’t dismiss it, but at the moment the Liverpool game, the interest it has got, it’s unparalleled. It’s still the one.

"The games against Liverpool in the last two or three years haven’t been great for us. We’ve not done as well as we used to.

“That changes because there was a period where Liverpool beat us three or four times in a row, and then we had a spell of winning four or five in a row. That’s the way it see-saws because of the rivalry between two great cubs.

Ferguson continued: “I think that before the City game, if you look at the programme, we had a run of games which were going to be important; two games against Liverpool, Chelsea away, Tottenham away and City.

"It was quite daunting, but we have progressed through it and hopefully by the end of it we will have done well.”